Marc Doring and Francis van Velsen have written an article in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice entitled, “Is cross-border relief in European patent litigation at an end?” (J.I.P.L.P. 2006, 1(13), 858-860). Here’s the first paragraph of the article:

The ECJ decisions in GAT v LuK and Roche v Primus appear to have prohibited cross-border relief, bringing the Dutch and the German patents courts (which were willing to grant such relief in certain circumstances) in line with the English Patents Court (which has always refused to grant such relief). However, the decisions still enable the Dutch and German patents courts to continue to grant cross-border relief in certain circumstances. Whether they will do so remains to be seen.

Those with a subscription to the Journal can download the article from the J.I.P.L.P. website. You can browse some of our other posts on these two ECJ decisions here.